A good day to be in Australia. They will be having an annular solar eclipse a few hours from now. The path is across the northern region, which unfortunately, to me appears to be less inhabited. Perhaps some of our intrepid burners down under might venture to see it.

they're probably too drunk to see straight anyway.....it's lost on them, "Mate"...

burner von braun wrote:A good day to be in Australia. They will be having an annular solar eclipse a few hours from now. The path is across the northern region, which unfortunately, to me appears to be less inhabited. Perhaps some of our intrepid burners down under might venture to see it.

so, how does that work, anyway? I mean, if they are looking up, it's really down (to us), and if the coriolis effect is opposite (is it?), then the tendency is to fall left, once vertigo sets in. Owing to all the missed holes dug in the northern hemisphere, that came out in Oz (instead of China), one might think they'd be looking up (which is down, to them) to be sure not to fall.......but, if down (up to us), it may be a shadow they see? Or, could it be the light, passes through said tunnels, shining up (down to us) on them. But, if so, and the moon goes the same direction across their sky, would the shadow, to along with backwards swirling water, when looking up(down to us), and thusly be inversely accurate, due to the double negative effect?

bentonite is a mineral, used in well drilling of all types, a very heavy, dense clay. if that helps interpret.

Maybe a north sea oilman can interpret.

Bentonite....where do I start?

Oh, yes.....bentonite is a clay mineral that's widely used in a variety of industries. It comes in a powdered form that's bagged, palleted and shipped. It has the ability to absorb up to 16 times its molecular weight in water. After that, it actually forms a gel which can be quickly boken down again into water and bentonite by agitation.

As far as drilling goes.....water is the universal drilling fluid...to cool the bit, to lift the drill spoil out of the hole, and to lubricate the drill rods as they turn in a hole. HOWEVER, water isn't as user-friendly as we might like it to be. Thus we add bentonite. The bentonite predominantly used in the US comes from around Colony, Wyoming, where it occurs as volcanic ash deposits that have weathered and can be mined. There are a number of companies that do so....Baroid IDP, MI Drilling Fluids, CETCO, and WyoBen are the largest.

Annually, I understand that Baroid actually flies a Hasidic rabbi out to inspect their mining and plant facilities in Wyoming, and they produce kosher bentonite. It's used to remove the sediment from wine which has undergone fermentation. Manichevitz buys the majority of the bagged output prior to Passover. Just think: MD 20/20 is sedimented out with kosher clay.

Things get funnier.

I could tell the story of what happened when a Baroid sales guy I know was sitting on his truck tailgate across from Cuidad Juarez in El Paso, Texas (he was on the US side of the fence with pallets of white powder) and the D.E.A. shows up. Things got unbelievable in a hurry. Needless to say, he was waiting on a Mexican customer.

So, besides drilling fluid bentonite is even used in cattle feed, pharmaceuticals and explosives (as a binding agent), paint (as a filler), and cosmetics (as a smoothing agent.

to my understanding, the Russians call it 'bentonit', the French call it 'bentonit', and I don't know any other translations than those.

they're probably too drunk to see straight anyway.....it's lost on them, "Mate"...

burner von braun wrote:A good day to be in Australia. They will be having an annular solar eclipse a few hours from now. The path is across the northern region, which unfortunately, to me appears to be less inhabited. Perhaps some of our intrepid burners down under might venture to see it.

so, how does that work, anyway? I mean, if they are looking up, it's really down (to us), and if the coriolis effect is opposite (is it?), then the tendency is to fall left, once vertigo sets in. Owing to all the missed holes dug in the northern hemisphere, that came out in Oz (instead of China), one might think they'd be looking up (which is down, to them) to be sure not to fall.......but, if down (up to us), it may be a shadow they see? Or, could it be the light, passes through said tunnels, shining up (down to us) on them. But, if so, and the moon goes the same direction across their sky, would the shadow, to along with backwards swirling water, when looking up(down to us), and thusly be inversely accurate, due to the double negative effect?

I'll have what he is having!!!....

TITWI

To be on the wire is life. The rest is waiting.
It's show time, folks.....Joe Gideon

ah Friday.Today, I'll be delivering and setting a pretty cool stone I made for a biker. The "club" will be meeting and escorting my truck and I, to the cemetery. Ha! they said "don't stop at intersection (actually, with a "permit" allowed for a funeral), but they're not getting any "stinking permit"......they're just sending riders ahead to block all traffic......hahathis might be fun! So, if I don't post later, can someone call the local incarceration center and inquire as to bail?...........

The stone & ride sound like a lot of fun, Yggy! And wowsers, what a coffee making contraption…

Up and moving around already, with a bunch more to sand, paint, and coat. That plus errands and a couple other projects. It's a bit gloomy and gray out so far, but that'll either move on or burn off in a couple hours I think.

Morning Anti M, Simon, Knownmad, Trillo and YG. Overcast and cool here this morning, but should get up into the 70's later today. Cats are indeed very strange people. Ours seems convinced that we are one of him. "Interesting" project you have today, YG. I am sure you will pull it off with your usual aplomb. Some pretty great writing yesterday, YG. Wish I could do that!